Waabi announces its first-generation autonomous trucking solution

Autonomous trucking startup Waabi has officially announced its first generation of trucks that are purpose-built for OEM integration. The trucks are powered by the Waabi Driver, a combination of Waabi’s software, sensors and compute. Their launch signals both that Waabi is ready to verify and validate its self-driving stack and that it’s open for business. In an interview last week, founder & CEO Raquel Urtasun stated, “It’s very plug-and-play, very sleek, and you know, very lightweight … so that it can be built or directly integrated into the assembly line for OEM integration.” When Waabi first launched last year, Urtasun said that Waabi’s approach will be to focus on trucking using its proprietary software to automate driving on commercial delivery routes. Over a year after coming out of stealth, that effort is now starting to bear fruit. Waabi will be joining healthy competition in the autonomous trucking space with the likes of Waymo, Aurora, TuSimple, Kodiak, and Torc Robotics. Waabi is yet to name its first OEM partner, but rumors are that it could be Peterbuilt. The initial batch of trucks will be used for data collection and testing, as well as commercial pilots, said Urtasun. Waabi is testing with commercial partners today and expects to name names in the coming weeks.